A New Platform
Raphael’s Portrait of a Young Man in Justice Is Mind.
This Thursday I announce that Justice Is Mind will go live on another VOD platform which has over 170 million users around the world. What’s so interesting to me is the constant ever changing world of film distribution. Most of the VOD platforms we are now on didn’t even exist when I wrote the business plan for Justice. Imagine where this business will be in the next five years.
Speaking of business plans, I’m about two-thirds completed with In Mind We Trust. While this plan certainly has many characteristics that are similar to SOS United States in terms of demographics and the Cold War overtures, there are of course numerous differences. It’s highlighting those differences in terms of marketing and public relations that will certainly aide the project as it moves forward.
Justice Is Mind arrives on a new VOD platform on Thursday.
One area that has sparked quite a bit of discussion has been the past-life reincarnation of Henri Miller in Justice Is Mind. In In Mind We Trust this area of the story is fully realized. How incredible was it that NBC News, and countless other media outlets, reported this past week about one ten year old boy who details a past life he had as a Hollywood actor. The report itself is fascinating and you can watch it at this link. Personally, I do believe in past lives. Like the research and science that’s part of “thought identification” mind-reading, this will be another area that I’ll be watching develop.
As for developments there is an upcoming movie called Women in Gold that stars Helen Mirren in which she plays a character who seeks to reclaim a piece of artwork that was stolen during The Third Reich, a claim that winds up at the Supreme Court. Based on a true story, there are the parallels between that film and Justice Is Mind and In Mind We Trust. In Justice, the painting in question is Raphael’s Portrait of a Young Man that engages a conflict between Henri Miller and his father Joseph Miller. In In Mind We Trust, we learn the backstory of the painting and how it came into the possession of Henri Miller.
Just like in SOS United States an aircraft carrier from the United States arrives in the United Kingdom. Pictured – USS Theodore Roosevelt will anchor off Stokes Bay, Gosport.
Of course some things have changed from a business point of view, locally, here in Massachusetts. Our state’s film tax credit may soon disappear. In my view, the credit obviously, is a good thing. But as I understand the way our state’s tax credit is written, it does need an overhaul. An overhaul is one thing, but a termination is something else. The large studio productions that shoot in the state will just take their business to other states and an entire industry will simply atrophy. Many businesses have made significant investments that will have to be written off in terms of infrastructure and jobs. Simply, there has to be another alternative.
While we didn’t qualify for the state tax credit on Justice Is Mind, we would on In Mind We Trust, SOS United States and First World. If, by example, In Mind We Trust is produced for say around $100K plus on the low budget end, it won’t matter really if there’s a credit or not. But bring in a multi-million dollar budget with named talent and suddenly, and rightly so, you are looking elsewhere as it comes down to the overall project. Think about it. A film, even with a budget of $500,000, can earn a credit of 25%+. That’s not money you leave on the table, you simply take the table to another state or country that maximizes your capital.
Thursday announcement.
Market Minded
More mainstream publications are writing about neuroscience in the courtroom.
During the course of any week there are a mountain of activities I try to accomplish. From pitching media, potential marketing partners, additional distribution outlets, theatres and investors. It’s just part of the world of independent filmmaking and making your voice heard in a literal sea of other projects. The word “filmmaker” means a bit of everything these days.
Just this week Jon Reiss published a post on Seed & Spark that claimed 30,000 – 50,000 films are produced on an annual basis with limited (if any) distribution options. Yes, I have come across filmmakers that after the “one big screening” you never hear about that film again. Or, worse, they thought film festivals were going to be the answer for revenue. At the end of the day, there really isn’t a right or wrong answer because every film is different. For me, it just comes from a near obsessive drive to market my projects and controlling my rights. I’m fine with signing some rights away if the deal makes sense—but it has to make sense not only for the film but for the wallet as well. Bottom line, I, along with so many others, have worked too hard to see something disappear.
In a nod to both First World and SOS United States, an article was published in China Topix claiming “China’s Space Program Will Block U.S. Military Communications”.
When I was publishing magazines, my former staff can attest to my determined push to give the magazines their widest possible distribution. The same holds true for my film projects. I’m not going to wait for opportunity, you present an opportunity for someone to consider. The world of filmmaking, is getting more competitive and involved from a technical and logistics point of view. But in my opinion, it’s also opening a world of opportunities. It’s just like auditioning. You might go for fifty auditions, get five callbacks and maybe one gig. The same is true when I presented Justice Is Mind for our theatrical release. I probably pitched fifty plus theatres. In the end a dozen picked up the film and we had a theatrical release with reportable revenue.
This weekend I finished some editing updates on In Mind We Trust the sequel to Justice Is Mind. My next steps in the process are the development of a business plan and laying the ground work. But like I do for First World and SOS United States, I present these projects in multiple levels. Yes, all three of these projects can be produced on the “indie” route or could involve a “mid-studio” level budget. It really just comes down to what makes sense.
If there is one thing that came out of the Academy Awards this year was that independent films were front and center. The studio system is sadly leaning primarily towards tent poles and super hero films. While I have no issues with that (I loved the Man of Steel), it will, simply by market demand, create opportunities for smaller films. As one of our supporters who saw Justice Is Mind in a theatre said on Facebook this morning, “I thoroughly enjoyed Justice is Mind and am certain that the sequel will be just as good, if not better. I also feel that Justice is Mind was far superior to many of the films that hit local theaters.”
While any filmmaker loves comments like that, I also know that Justice Is Mind has not been for everyone. That’s the world of filmmaking or any performance art, you develop a thick skin that accepts both accolades and admonishment.
This week should start pretty interesting. I’ll be testing Variety Insight & Vscore’s service for the next couple of days. I had a demo on Friday. It’s a fascinating and comprehensive service.
New opportunities.
The Ashton Times 